Brittney Gout scored two goals and Rachel Bjorgan notched the game winner on a breakaway, as the seventh-seeded St. Lawrence University women's hockey team topped the second-seeded Yale Bulldogs, 4-2, in game one of the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals at Ingalls Rink in New Haven, Conn. on Friday night.

With the win, the Saints improved to 15-13-7, while Yale fell to 22-7-1.

After one scoreless period of play, St. Lawrence held a 9-5 lead in shots on goal.

It was the Scarlet and Brown that would strike first, as Brittney Gout picked up the puck off a rebound from a Lucy Morgan save. Gout carried the puck the length of the ice, slipped a pass to Jessica Poirier. Poirier sent the puck back to Gout, who sent a back hand shot over the blocker of Yale goaltender Pia Dukaric.

The Bulldogs struck back, as Yale's Emma Seitz turned the puck over at the Saints blue line. He original attempt to send the puck in the zone was stopped by her own teammate's skate, but Anna Bargman was knocking on the doorstep to knot the game 1-1 at 16:33 of the second frame.

The Saints came out firing in the third with one minute and 32 seconds left on the power play. It was Aby Hustler that would put the Saints back up with her 12th goal of the season. Hustler's original shot was stopped by Dukaric, but she capitalized on the rebound for the goal. Rachel Teslak and Chloe Puddifant tallied assists on the play.

Just one minute and 15 seconds later, the Bulldogs would tie the game once more on a goal from Tabea Botthof, who sent a high-powered shot from the slot past Morgan at 2:28 of the third.

It was Rachel Bjorgan, who would put the Scarlet and Brown on top once more, as she picked off the puck in the neutral zone, skated in on a two-on-one breakaway opportunity and fired a wrister for the goal at 9:35.

Gout would score her second of the night with an absolute beaut of toe drag, increasing the Saints lead to 4-2, with 4:02 remaining in the third.



"That was a good effort from start to finish for us," said head coach Chris Wells '92. "We got some timely goals and some good bounces late in the game to relieve some pressure. Yale had some good zone time on us and we weathered those times well. We had great energy on the bench and we played well in the areas that are important in the playoffs!"

Yale pulled Dukaric with 3:34 remaining, but the Bulldog's were unable to score with the extra attacker.

Morgan finished with 22 saves for St. Lawrence, while Dukaric made 28 for the Bulldogs.

St. Lawrence finished with a 32-24 advantage in shots.

The Saints and the Bulldogs will faceoff in game two of the quarterfinals tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m.